Adopted in 1900, the flag recalls the Southern Cross used by the Confederacy during the Civil War. That red cross is placed on a white shield, with the state seal centered. The flag represents the land of sunshine, flowers, palm trees, rivers and lakes.

STATE COLORS

STATE SEAL

In 1868, Florida's new State Constitution mandated that the first session of the Legislature must adopt a seal to represent the state. And the Legislature lost no time in coming up with a Joint Resolution that they sent to the Governor in August of that year. The resolution specified that the seal had to be the size of an American silver dollar. It also stated that the seal should contain the sun's rays, a cocoa tree, a steamboat, and a female Indian scattering flowers. These images were to be circled by the words "Great Seal of the State of Florida: In God We Trust."